A God, A Visionary, and one's Convictions
by Wotahbotah3k
Summary: Do Gods have a say in the fate of the world? Does Man get the privilege to change this? Is this even of any concern? Perhaps a Goddess and a young Homs can find out the answer to such questions — together. Or not? (This is in no way religious)
1. Chapter 1: A small bet

**Thanks for spending time to read this! I hope you enjoy!**

 **Much to my surprise, I have yet to see a Palutena and Shulk story out there; they actually have something about them that might make them click, don't you think? For those who have played Xenoblade Chronicles, you may know where this is going...**

 **BUT, this will not simply be a vanilla romance story of sorts. This is merely an introduction, and I intend my story to have a slow start as I will be adding more to it than just a simple relationship. For now, let's just stick to the basics; I've kept this in my head for a very long time.**

 **Also, if you were hoping for a lot of lovely-dovely content, I may not exactly be the right person for this... But who knows?**

 **(This is in no way religious, just a heads up)**

* * *

As much as he appreciated the excitement in the Smash Stadium, however he felt that his fans and friends alike would have to lower their volumes if they wanted to be any more helpful. The constant cheers and yells were beginning to cause his ears to throb as the hot afternoon sun streaked light on his face, making him have to squint.

"Feel the burn as you stretch!" he recalled, as he reached both arms to his back, one tugging the elbow of the other. While he continued with his warm up exercises, the constant blaring of air horns were certainly getting on his nerves.

"YOU GET EM' SHULK! JUST GIVE IT SOME OOMPH!" A familiar voice screamed from the stands.

Turning to face the source, the young Homs merely gazed at his childhood friend who was following up with erratic blasts of the airhorn. A Nopon had hopped on to his face in an attempt to stop him soon after, finally putting an end to that. Shulk couldn't help himself but let out a short sigh in slight embarrassment.

 _That is so YOU, Reyn_.

"Is the contestant ready?" a voice boomed through the speakers.

Nodding to no one in particular, Shulk took a firm grip on the hilt of his weapon, while faint characters of different colours began flashing on the layers of glass.

 _All I need is 6 seconds._

3!

2!

* * *

"Do you think he stands a chance, Lady Palutena?"

"Mmm... I'd say as good a chance as Snake returning. How about you, Pit?"

"That sounded really harsh, Lady Palutena. Does he really pose that little of a threat?"

"Pit, as long as Captain Falcon somehow doesn't beat my record, I'd bet my whole suite that he wouldn't even hit three thousand six."

"Isn't two thousand and six like, THE worst? Thats like 0% aura Lucario on a bad day. Heck, that's even an insult to 0% Lucario! You wouldn't wanna make him mad!"

"THREE thousand and six HUNDO, silly."

"Oops... So umm, Lady-"

"Now shush! Back to the contest."

Leaning over the balcony along side many others, the lady in white and gold made sure to keep a good eye on the fellow contestant. Something about him - perhaps some potential that still remained buried deep within, had always caught her attention.

The moment a "GO!" shook the entire stadium, a slit edge to air slash was swiftly performed,

 _8 seconds._

followed by multiple juggles. The purple "斬" character stood out brightly as the sandbag continued to be ragdolled.

5!

A new symbol on the weapon appeared almost as quickly as the one earlier had; this time a red "擊" came in its place. With one last swoop, the homs made a slide over to the homerun bat that lay in a corner, before making a mad dash back, ready to swing it.

2!

Skidding into a stance, Shulk had made sure to maintain a good posture, ensuring his arms formed a triangle ranging between his elbows. As he pulled the black bat as high up as he could-

1!

"PING!"

Had he been short for a tenth of a second or more, he would have been disqualified for sure. Letting it rip, the Sandbag had already took to the skies like it had been hit by a truck. The crowd burst into applause at his performance, some squealing in delight.

"YEA, YOU GET EM' SHULK!"

Grinning in satisfaction, the young homs waved to the audience (which made more applause), descending the steps from the risen platform and heading back to the participants' vomitorium.

"Now, we will once again have to await for the sandbag to return. In the meanwhile, please feel free to do as you please, or remain to watch the post-event matches before the next time slot..."

Stepping out of what resembled a High Entia transporter into the "stadium-box (as in like a theater box), Shulk was greeted with a warm welcome by a group of smashers, most giving words of praise and assurance.

"And someone earlier was seeking for advice?" Ike laughed, patting the homs on his shoulder.

"Despite your lack of experience in this department, you sure did a really decent job," Marth continued.

While the others such as the likes of Luigi and sheik provided simple praises or nods of approval, Shulk was soon approached by a young angel followed by his Lady.

"Nice one out there! You were really turning up the heat!" Pit spouted in enthusiasm.

Shulk couldn't help but let out a chuckle. "Well, we won't really know how good it was till it hits the ground."

"Exactly. So, Pit," the goddess spoke from behind. "What were you about to say earlier?"

A look of surprise appeared on Shulk's face, as the both of them turned to face Palutena.

"Oh yeah! Thanks for reminding me Lady Palutena!" Pit answered. "So were you genuinely going to bet your suite with me?"

"Bet your wha-?"

"Hmmmmmmmmm~~~"

Despite putting on such a bright and beautiful smile, it sometimes brought chills down his spine for unknown reasons. Whether her smiles were sincere or one of mischief, he would never be able to figure it out.

"Maybe. Do you seriously want to take the chance?"

"Heck yeah! I'm not gonna back down just because it's you!" Pit warned.

"Well then, angels first. What do you propose?"

"If I win, I get your suite, and you'll have to find somewhere else to sleep over for a week," suggested Pit.

"Annnnnnnddd when I win?" prompted Lady Palutena. The cheeky smile Pit wore earlier was instantly wiped off, as he began to scratch the back of his head.

"Uhhh... Well... I'll eat soap..?"

"Here's an idea: You'll have to help me wash my back whenever I take a soak in my Jacuzzi," she cooed, a devious grin creeping on her face. Winking at the boys merely made their faces flush even further (if they weren't red enough already).

"Nah, just kidding!" she giggled, with a hand over her mouth. "I don't really know, to be honest..."

"I know! If I lose the bet, I'll do whatever you tell me to!" Pit offered. However, judging by the blank stare he received, it seemed that Lady Palutena was not the least bit impressed. "What. What?"

"That's kind of what you already ARE supposed to do," she stated bluntly. Sighing, Palutena swung to once again lay her gentle eyes on the homs, who had remained silent the for the whole conversation. "I guess we don't have a choice in the matter."

An index finger was whipped towards Shulk at lightning speed, causing him to jump out of shock.

"Propose unto me, thy ideas!" she commanded.

He took a step back, staring at her all wide-eyed. "Wait, now I'm a part of THIS?" he questioned.

"Please, you were part of this since the beginning. Less stupid questions, more productivity!" she clapped her hands together.

"Uhhh... Just make him sleepover with the koopalings? Is that good enough?" Shulk simply mumbled, barely putting any thought into the idea. Much to his surprise, Pit actually had his jaw dropped at such a plan, much to Palutena's delight.

"Ooooh, ain't you a clever boy. See, Pit, Shulk is the kind of person you should aim to be," she praised.

"Hey, I get my jobs done too! And I do them good! ...Or at least most of the time."

"At least you two share something in common!"

"Is that good or bad?"

"Well, neither really. I mean, is being shorter than me going to do any good or bad to you? Anyways, it's decided. If you win, you get the suite, if I win, you get a slumber party~ For a month! Grab your sleeping bags!"

"Actually, do I get any say in this, or do I benefit in anyway?" Shulk queried out of curiositiy.

"I already said, enough with the dumb questions. But I'll make you dinner if I win," she cooed.

Contented with the results, the goddess began to make her way back to the transporter, while the boys just stood in place, staring ahead as they took in what was going on; Oh, especially Pit. He looked like he was about to break down, already having second thoughts about proposing the bet. Shulk actually felt guilty for his suggestion; perhaps he should have kept his mouth shut.

She stopped in her tracks, turning around: "Pit, aren't you coming along?"

"Oh, um! Right away, Lady Palutena!"

As the angel followed her, Shulk merely shook his head. His very first impressions of them were that they would be the more graceful, wise and mature type. Well, turns out he was wrong on the "mature" part; their occasional antics very much proved otherwise. On the bright side, at least he was right about the other two points. He gave himself a 7.8/10 for the guess; too much sensibility.

Well then.

Without much to do here after receiving feedback from the others, there was little reason to remain any longer. Shulk strolled back to the transporter once more, wondering what would be on the lunch menu on this fine day. Hopefully no salads though, yuck.

* * *

 **What do you peeps think so far?**

 **Too short? I'll do my best to get more content in!**

 **Too stale? Could you elaborate a little further?**

 **Punctuation or spelling errors? I'll correct it in an instant!**

 **I already have chapters 2 and half of chapter 3 ready; I just wanted to check out how you readers feel about this.**

 **ANY review and advice, be it harsh or gentle, is kindly appreciated. Once again, thank you, and have a very, very nice rest of your day. ;)**


	2. Chapter 2: Goddess troubles

**Sorry this took a while, but with major exams coming by, I'm spending close to 12 hours a day away from home. And that usually means I have to type through the night, but welp, it's finally ready for release! Unfortunately, this chapter is a bit shorter, but it's because of time constraints and this is more of a... uh, filler chapter? It's more of a transition to events leading up in Chapter 3.**

 **The gaps between each update may widen soon though, which is why I'm already prepping chapter 4 now. Anyways, enjoy~!**

* * *

With the warm currents brushing against her ever sleek skin, Palutena took a deep breath, letting out a groan of relaxation. She toyed with the bath bomb that floated in the middle of the whirlpool in her marble Jacuzzi, poking at it every once in a while as it bubbled vigorously. Whilst she browsed through the tv stations of the 40 inch plasma screen that hung on a wall of the executive bathroom at the same time, the zipping of baggage coming from the bedroom had been going on for what seemed like an eternity.

"Is that you, Pit?" she called.

A faint wailing sound — kind of like a crying puppy — returned through the door of the bathroom, confirming her assumption. She decided to query further.

"Are you up to something?"

"..."

 _Hmm, nothing but the sounds of closet doors. Perhaps I was a bit too cruel on the poor angel..._

She continued to puff at the shrinking bath bomb in short, hard breaths. The sweet aroma of lavender flowers was already filling the air, the ball floating to the other side of the tub.

Glueing her eyes onto the bikkuri tamago as it dissolved the last of what was left of it, she eagerly awaited for what she would get this time.

 _Banana man? Optimus prime? Nina Williams? Oh, oh! Please make it Chun Li ~~~_

The suspense soon subsided, the feeling of anticipation turning into one of disappointment. Reaching out for the tiny figure, Palutena pouted while she observed it in her hand.

 _Olimar again... When I win this month's conquest, I'm gonna buy a thousand bath bombs with the money!_

After frolicking around in the water for a little longer, the goddess finally decided to get up, stretching her long slender legs over the tub and reaching out for her towel. Patting herself dry, she took to wiping all the glass and mirrors that had steamed up during her time of spent in there.

The squeaky noises produced while cotton rubbed against glass was for some reason, music to her ears. She hummed a rather distinct tune as her wipes followed to the rhythm of each different note.

As she finished wiping the last of the glass panes, she took a moment to step back and get a good look at her reflection. Twisting herself around at different angels, Palutena admired her near-perfect figure.

It wasn't long before she broke into soft tee-hees; "Darn, you are hot~," she mused. Her narcissism would somethings get the better of her, making her do stupid actions such as blowing a kiss at a virtual image of her own self. She quickly wrapped herself with a warm, comfy towel, shaking her head and grabbing the door knob.

"BLLLAAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHH, OH GODS, HELP ME!"

The combination of steam and lavender effervescence diffused throughout the bedroom, nearly suffocating the angel. He dropped the bunch of toilet rolls he was carrying, followed by collapsing on the floor, gasping for fresh air.

"Oh come on Pit, it's not that bad," she told him, the toilet paper bumping onto her moist feet. Stepping over it, she headed for the bedside desk and placed the Olimar figure there, together alongside countless others.

Palutena nearly shrieked as a pair of cold hands suddenly grasped onto her leg, with Pit's chilly palms from the air conditioning sending goosebumps up her body. She heaved a soft sigh, slightly annoyed at the condition her room was in.

Luggage, clothes, toilet paper, towels, you name it, were strewn all over the room. Looking down at the angel, Palutena gave him a questioning stare, an eyebrow raised.

"What's... the meaning of this?"

"Eheheh... Umm..." hopping back on his feet, Pit continued, "I was kinda already... packing my stuff... for the sleepover I'd be having..." he rambled off.

"Annddd packing... in my room?"

"B-But Lady Palutena! You're always the one who keeps our clothings, your closet never seems to run out of space! I mean look-"

Slamming open one of the closet doors, Palutena squinted as she covered her eyes from the blinding light—

"Close it! I get it, just shut the doors before I get cataracts!" yelped the goddess, and thankfully the doors immediately closed, blocking off the intensity of the rays.

"I see what you meant by 'space'... But this whole time... I never knew the sun was in my closet..?!"

"Firstly, that's because I, as captain of the underworld army, assist in doing all the packaging and arrangement. Secondly, that was Sirius, not the sun. Although technically that's close enough, since the sun is indeed a star and-"

"Nooo..? Definitely sure that IS the sun. I'm always right, after all," Palutena defended herself.

"About as right as Super Bash Sisters..."

Ignoring Pit's grumbles, Palutena shoo'd him out of the room, throwing the baggages out at the same time. "Keep your complains to yourself, Pit!" she ordered, locking the doors to allow herself to put on her garments.

 _ **3 minutes and 47 seconds later...**_

Having dressed herself, she peered at the clock that sat neatly at her bedside, putting on the gold chains around the neck at the same time.

 _5:41pm? Already?! It should be on the way..._

Grabbing the towel that was used to wrap her body, the goddess peeked her head out of the bedroom.

"Pit! How long did I spend?" she questioned.

Having placed the bags on a glass table near the entrance of the suite, he slapped his hands together to dust them off.

"About an hour and ten. Why?"

"I was in there bathing for OVER AN HOUR?" she shouted in disbelief.

Pit merely shrugged as his Lady started ranting about how that was impossible and that the captain of the her army had a terrible sense of time. It was quite the contrary actually, her spending extensive periods of time in the bathroom was a common occurrence. She would always be too busy watching TV, playing with bubbles or doing goddess knows what in there; something she would never admit to, as per usual.

Soon enough, Palutena was ushering Pit out of the room desperately. "Hey, hey! Calm down, what's the rush?" he quizzed, slightly irritated that her wet lengthy green hair would occasionally slap some water onto his arms and face. "Did you even dry yourself properly? You palms are still drenched!"

She disregarded his question, instead fumbling to grab the key card for the suite, shutting it's door and pushing him along all at the same time.

"He-llloo?"

"It's TUESDAY, Pit," Palutena finally replied curtly, as water droplets continued dripping from her laurel crown, slithering down her face as she struggled to quickly lock the place.

As soon as she was done, she shoved the card into Pit's hand rather violently before making a mad burst down the hallways.

"Wha- WAIT! I don't get it!" Pit dashed after her, both in shock and confusion. "Ma'am!"

Despite getting irked from intentionally being called "madam" by her angel, she really couldn't care less at the moment other than letting out a " _Tsk"_.

"You know WHAT happens when it's 6pm!" Palutena resounded down the hall as her dripping hair continued to splatter droplets all over he bare shoulders and back, swinging her arms to and fro as she ran.

"WHAT?"

* * *

Shulk shut the cubicle door behind him, unzipping his pants as he begun to relieve himself. Other than the sounds of the splashing waters, Ryu washing his hands and the occasional squeaking of Sonic's sneakers in the other cubicle beside him,it was nice and quiet. He drew a deep breath;

Mmm, I wonder which air freshener they used today. Piña Colada? Or is it green app-

"IT'S TAAACCCCCCCOOO TUEESSSDDAAAAAAYYYYYY!"

The thunderous voice nearly gave everyone a heart attack. Shulk jumped so much in fright that he went from being a deadeye sniper to being a trigger happy ak-47 wielding Rambo scrub, spraying his bullets everywhere. Bangings began on the cubicle wall beside him-

"EW, EWW, EEEEWWWW! SWEET MOTHER OF-"

"I'M SORRY SONIC! I'll clean them off your shoes for you I swear-"

"Oh, damn it."

As everyone immediately shut their mouths, the sounds of gushing water could be heard from the outside.

"Ryu, are you okay?" Shulk asked out of concern, and partially out of curiosity.

"You two should... Probably leave right now."

Having "dripped himself dry", Shulk pulled up his boxers and immediately charged out the cubicle, only to see a flooding basin and Ryu...

A tap in hand.

"You've got to be kidding."

* * *

( ﾟヮﾟ) **See you next chapter! Any feedback is kindly appreciated~**

 **Next update on 5/6th September, examinations about to end.**


	3. Chapter 3: Defeat

**Hey everyone, Wotahbotah3k here! I'm sorry for not updating recently, but with examinations coming in and out, it's kinda difficult to study and write at the same time. I'm sure all of you understand, so please enjoy another chapter~! Thanks for waiting so patiently.**

* * *

"I've already dispatched a group of plumbers to deal with this problem. You are all free to go."

"You mean, like, Mario and Luigi?"

"Of course not, Sonic. You know very well that I refer to the waddle dees."

"Once again, apologies for the inconvenience, Master Hand."

"Oh, it's an understandable situation. Surely everyone has experienced something like this before? Now off you go, you three."

The warrior, hedgehog and hom walked down the flight of marble stairs that headed for the Dining room. The moment they heard giant doors shutting behind them, they immediately heaved a huge sigh of relief simultaneously, looking at one another.

"I had **SERIOUSLY** expected worse. Like, not even a lecture?" Sonic wondered aloud.

"Who knows what he's up to? And everyone is always telling me how terryfying it is to get in trouble with Master Hand..."

"Well, from what I observed," Shulk added, "I noticed that there were a huge puddle of coffee on the carpet behind him with some broken china..."

A weird sounding snark escaped from the Blue Blur. "Seems like someone was having his own shares of our troubles for once," he mused, rubbing his nose with a gloved finger in a somewhat cocky manner, as per usual.

"Regardless, we should quickly make a move for dinner right now, before it gets too crowded," Ryu suggested. "The assistants may be coming not too long later."

"Why can't you just call them assist trophies like a normal person?"

"It sounds... Odd calling someone that."

While the fighter and the hedgehog continued on with their conversation, Shulk had silently slipped away, heading for the dining hall at a faster pace than the others. He hadn't had the chance to eat much earlier as it had just so happened to be "Tangerine teatime" after his round at the sandbag, meaning every dish and beverage was to be associated with tangerines; something he wasn't too fond of. He felt it a better choice to just wait till dinner time, and well, here he was.

Stepping in, the dinner crowd was noisy as ever, with everybody either eating their food from the buffet tables or making some chatter with the others.

"Good evening, Shulk."

"Oh! Good evening to you too, Robin," the young hom greeted back, as the tactician headed back to his seat, more roast chicken on his plate.

Going to the buffet table, Shulk picked up a pair of tongs in one hand, a platter in another. Stapping the tongs continuously, he looked over the diverse food choices...

Huh. No tacos on Taco Tuesday? Or is it Tofu Tuesday, and Taco Thursday...

* * *

"Where to sit..?"

Shulk tried his best to maintain balance as he carried 2 full platters of food, a bowl of soup on one of them. Looking around, he soon spotted an empty square table near the center of the room.

He began to make his way there, careful not to stain his black sleeves with any tartar sauce...

"Ah, Shuulllkk! Over here~!"

Finding the source of the familiar voice, he let out a friendly beam. Pit immediately ran over to take the loads that were all the way up to his elbows, relieving Shulk's arms of the weight of the food. The captain of Palutena's army escorted him over, before placing the dishes on the empty side of the table. Or that's what he would've done, had the goddess not sprawled herself all over the table, occupying herself with pivoting a toothpick between her gritted teeth.

"Sorry, Lady Palutena?"

"Mmmm... Oh! Evening, Shulk!"

She quickly withdrew her hands and straightened her back upright, giving way as the platters were spread. Taking his seat beside Pit and, surprisingly enough, Dark Pit, Shulk picked up the table cloth and tucked it into his collar. He glanced around the table.

"Er, hey guys."

"Is this how much you usually have?!"

"Well, no actually, I ju-"

"How do you burn all those fats?"

"By runni-"

"Why did you invite him over here?!"

Great. All he wanted was to have a full meal; nothing more, nothing less. Not a Q&A session.

"Pittoo, how-"

"Cut that out!" Dark Pit yelled in dissatisfaction.

"How can you make a bet, when you don't even have a dealer?" Palutena continued.

"Wha- What was that supposed to mean?!" Shulk cried in surprise.

 _What is she thinking? I'm not her toy! And this isn't a gambling den!_

He instantly regretted his decision of accepting the offer to join them. But what could he do? Leaving the table right now would surely not be the nicest thing to do...

"I made a second bet with Pit," she explained. "If I win, he's my personal slave for 2 whole weeks. If he wins, anything he says, goes for a week."

"Why would you want to make another bet like that?" Shulk questioned the angel.

"Huh? No, not me, him! I mean, that's also me but..." Pit pointed at his dark counterpart, who simply grunted back.

"He has a reputation of his own to live up to, isn't that right, Pittoo~?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he brushed off the comment.

The dinner at their table soon got smoother. Small talk was made on how each person had spent their day as everyone dug in to their meals, some laughter erupting every once in a while.

" 'scuse me~"

Lifting up her chair, the only female at the table got out of her seat, heading straight for the Ladies.

The moment she was out of sight, Dark Pit instantly grabbed Shulk by his collar and yanked him closer, causing the table to rattle. Half a prawn fell out of his mouth, a result of the surprise he received from such a sudden action. Grabbing the table ledge, Shulk tried his best to ensure that he wouldn't fall off the side should his assailant let go.

"Hey, what's gotten into you?"

"I'm only going to say this once, so LISTEN up closely," Dark Pit ordered.

"I don't have a grudge against you, nor do I have anything against any of you. BUT, you'd better make sure that the sandbag crosses the mark that goddess had set. I'm not going to be a servant to that woman, and there will be SEVERE consequences if you fail to cross that line. Got it?"

Finally releasing that iron grip, Shulk frowned in displeasure at such sudden hostility. He opted to stay silent regardless, not wanting to find trouble.

"You didn't have to be so rough with him, geez!" chided Pit.

"I apologise, okay? I was just trying to carry my point across, so quit babbling."

Shulk let out an exasperated sigh; this was going to be a long night.

* * *

"UP B, UP B, UP B! Don't you understand english?!"

"Well, SORRY! I don't play this as often as you."

"Of course, how could I forget. You're always too busy licking ice cream off the ground."

"At least that's good for health!"

Shulk scratched the back of his head, watching as the two angels fought between each other. He laid down his controller, stretching his arms.

"Hyunnnnggghhh!"

"Don't worry about them, they're always at it."

"Heh, I guess they are..." he snickered.

Perhaps playing doubles on the Wii U wasn't really a great idea? Then again, he was having quite a bit of fun...

"You should probably be switching channels by now should you want to watch it live," a deep voice advised from behind.

"How long do we have left?"

"3. Maybe less."

"Alright, thanks Meta Knight!" Palutena replied.

Dropping the Wii U gamepad, the goddess immediately hopped up from the wooden floor of the lounge, making a break for the back of the spacious room.

"Dibs on this!" she called, springing her whole body splat on the entire resting sofa.

The other 3 were quick to follow, grabbing the TV remote and switching to the Super Smash Arena channel, as they took a seat before the completely-occupied-by-Palu couch.

"Turn it up! I can't hear a thing," Pit complained.

Applying pressure on the volume button, commentary was soon able to be heard as the cameras provided spectacular views of the Stadium and the cheering crowds.

"Good evening to you all! Fox Mcloud here, and sitting alongside me is Falco Lombardi, a long time partner of mine and we'll be your commentators for the coming events this evening."

"Thanks Fox, been a while since I was last here. I won't be staying for the whole night but let's get straight to matters first, before tonight's theme of "endurance", where the Smashers will have to endure countless obstacles of the Smash Run, the Rival Smash, a couple more and the main event, the Cruel Smash, right now as we speak, a sandbag from earlier today seems to be coming by!"

"That's right. Let me check... Yesterday was Lucina... So it should be Shulk's. About 4 to 5 hours ago it was launched, I believe."

"Oh, is that so? Few have been able to last this long. It should be visible very soon, so in the meantime, let's talk about the statistics shall we? I heard Ganondorf is the current record holder?"

"Absolutely, Falco. The strategy used during his round was really interesting. It was..."

"Could you grab that pillow for me please?"

"It's called a cushion, not a pillow. Pillows are what you sleep with," Shulk told Palutena as he picked it up from the ground, throwing it behind him and right onto her face.

"Well, for your information, I find 'cushions' sleepable with," she retorted.

Shulk couldn't help but let out a humored laugh. "Is 'sleepable' even a word?" he checked with the angels beside him.

"You'll get used to it after a while," Pittoo replied. "That's how I managed to survive with them for so long."

"Is that so?"

"Whatever. Since when did Falco get so talkative anyway..."

"I heard the commentator job gets pretty good pay. You can sign up for it if you want, maybe then you can finally get your own suite," teased the goddess on the couch.

"We'll see..."

With all eyes on screen, the Sandbag could be seen falling from the troposphere. It was pin drop silence in the stadium, as everyone looked on intently...

"38 meters above ground," whispered Fox.

The Sandbag continued whizzing past marker after marker, and sure enough, it had already flown past the 3000 ft mark.

Three thousand and two... Three thousand and three...

The altitude of the Sandbag had begun falling rapidly, and by the 3400 mark, the bag was barely at 10 metres above the landing field.

"For the moment of truth!" Pit hollered, only to be slapped on the back of his head by his twin.

"Ow!"

"Shut your gap!"

"Okay, okay..."

Slamming straight onto the long stretch of land, it rebounded past 3500 ft, before skidding on the concrete. Shulk was rather surprised the bag wasn't on fire by now as it finally came to a halt. The endurance of the bag was sometimes near god like.

"..."

"What do you think Falco? Did he hit the next marker?"

"It's hard to tell from such a far view... But I don't think it appears so. So close, but good effort though."

The Sandbag had failed to hit the 3600 ft mark by what seemed like mere inches; much to everyone's disappointment. Groans could be heard from the crowd, but most brazenly from the Smashers' lounge. Well, except for one anyway.

"Awww, it's okay my little angels, there's always next time~" Palutena comforted, poking the cheeks of Pit and Dark Pit having proclaimed her victory. Shulk simply cast a worried glance at the two, a tinge of guilt in him.

 _Oh wow, at least Pit's reaction isn't too bad. Dark Pit looks like he's fuming. Which means - Ugh, crap baskets._

Palutena had been holding her laughter back as much as possible, forcing herself to grin at most. It wasn't quite working out though, she couldn't compress it much longer.

"PFFFTTT-"

Her spittle erupted like a fountain, raining down on all over poor Pit's neck.

"AUGH, GROSS!"

The goddess fell into a bout of laughter, a tear falling down her face. She covered it with her hands as she made futile attempts at catching her breath and apologising at the same time. Goodness, was she insane?

With everyone's attention directed to her, the television screen continued to display the Sandbag, squirming around, trying to make it's way back up-

"HURRAAAHHHH!"

Turning back, only thunderous cheers could be heard as the Sandbag was on it's... "Feet"... Once again.

"Wait, what's going on?" Shulk wondered aloud.

"Well, wadd'ya know! Seems like the Monado boy got six hundred, on the dot! The sandbag actually wriggled it's way back up onto the marker, and after all, the results are only recorded when it returns to its initial stance!" announced Fox through the speakers.

Any crowing from earlier had gone straight out the window. Instead, Palutena onlygawked wide eyed and jaw dropped, in utter horror and disbelief at the sudden turning of tables/ tipping of the scales.

"Wait, so whose win does that count as..?"

* * *

"IT'S OUR WIN!"

"NO, NO, NO! You can't do that, you can't cheat, you can't cheat! NEIN!"

"Lady Palutena, so based on the details, did you specifically say that 'I'd bet my whole suite that he wouldn't even hit three thousand six'?"

"Umm... That's true."

"But you did clarify it was three thousand and six hundred, did you not?"

"Affirmative."

The goddess and angels simply waited by the couch, as the judges went into deep discussion.

Welp, things weren't quite looking up for someone, were they?

"We've reached a conclusion," Meta Knight announced. "Judge B, if you may."

"Holy McMoly-!"

Raising up his hammer, Kirby slammed the ground multiple times. This resulted in everyone nearly falling over as tremors could be felt throughout the entire level, the ground shaking violently.

"OKAY OKAY, that's enough! You're going to cause this structure to collapse if you continue any further!" he broke the star warrior off.

The pink puffball returned with a blank stare, clearly in oblivion. Meta Knight was already accustomed to the Star Warrior's attitude; just tell him what to do, and not explain anything. That'll probably save half of your lifespan from doing something unnecessary. Besides, Kirby was actually rather capable of analysing situations in times of crisis, but that's for another time.

"The final verdict between Shulk and I, and to some extent, Kirby, is that the person who wins the bet..."

Deep in her gut, she knew full well that the win wasn't hers. The goddess eyed the small stack of post it notes that sat on the coffee table, biting her lower lip out of nervousness.

 _What to do._

"Pit and Dark Pit. Palutena clearly stated that Shulk would fail to hit the three thousand and six hundred feet marker. However, as the results do indeed show that the target, even though just barely, has been achieved, Pit and Pittoo both gain ownership of Palutena's suite. Should she decline, she will have to undergo a full week's worth of cruel smash as a forfeit." Meta Knight explained.

"AWWW YEAH, best butt-kicking angels ever!"

"And as one, no goddess can stop us!"

"Reigning the heavens undefeatable!"

The hom couldn't help but drop a sweat at what those two were doing. One minute they could be bitter enemies, the next the best tag team of all time. It was really hard to understand the relationship between those two.

At the tugging of his shorts, Shulk looked down, only to notice a Star warrior desperately gripping onto his clothing.

"What's wrong Kirby?"

"Pauroo!"

"Huh?"

"Pauroooooo~!"

"I'm sorry, but I... I don't get it," he apologised.

The Star Warrior was quick to react though; it simply ran over to the coffee table, making a huge leap onto it and picking up a yellow piece of paper. He made his way over and took it from Kirby, who was waving it frantically at him.

"Oh, it looks like someone left us a message."

Shulk scanned his eyes quickly over the note; it wasn't a very long letter.

"Huh, I wonder who- Ugh."

Dark Pit looked over his shoulder as a hand tapped him, handing a note over, which he held in his fingers.

"What's this?" he asked quizzically.

"Eh, you might not be to happy about it."

"Let's see here:

'Dear Pit and Pittoo,

GGWP close.'"

"..."

"..."

"Well..."

"THAT SLY LITTLE B-"

* * *

 **I've been having multiple ideas of what could happen the next chapter, but I'm not really sure what to go with. Any reviews, feedbacks or ideas left are kindly appreciated! Till then~**


	4. Chapter 4: Consequence

**Sup peeps! I haven't been coming on for the past week or 2 (maybe even 3) due to exam schedules, but hey, that's finally over! (Only for about another 3 weeks before it starts again.)**

 **I've been trying to juggle content between chapters 4 and 5. I'm working on chapter 5 as of now, and am considering adding a few more characters in. The only thing I'm stuck at is when to include them... Anyways, hope you enjoy this next chapter!**

 **P.s Threw in an extra four to five hundred words more. (Cause I love you all. ;3 ) And I'm not sure if I'm gonna add a few more characters in the next chap. Tell me watcha think!**

* * *

"Lady Palutena! Please open up!"

Pit exhaled a long breath, just about to consider the option of giving up.

"Maybe we should just pretend the bet never happened..." he suggested.

"Are you kidding? After all the taunting and teasing, you're just gonna let this slip by?!"

"Well, I don't really mind not having the suite, to be honest-"

Shulk cringed as he witnessed the angel getting slapped by his mirrored self, right in the face. Ouch.

"If you're not going to break the damn door down, then I WILL!" The dark angel whipped out his electroshock arm out of nowhere, aiming it right for the door. It began charging up to its maximum capacity, much to everyone's alarm.

"Hey, hold up for a second!" Shulk warned.

"You're only gonna get yourself in trouble with Master Hand if you do so. You are clearly aware of that, are you not?"

Dark Pit glared at Meta Knight, who returned the favour unflinchingly. He growled in frustration as he laid his weapon down; the presence of Meta Knight always made it seem like Master Hand was always with them, just keeping an eye out at every possible moment.

"Then WHAT? We've been pestering her for the past 10 minutes. If she doesn't want to leave, she can just get room service and lock herself up forever."

"Fret not. I'm pretty sure Shulk can be of help."

"Shark!" Kirby cheered happily, as the homs was once again called out to do something he wish he needn't get himself involved into. The whole day, he had been dragged into the shenanigans between those few Smashers, and frankly he was getting rather sick of it.

"What am I supposed to say..." he mumbled. He didn't even bother trying to argue back anymore.

"You'll know what to do," the knight replied calmly.

Taking a deep breath, Shulk headed for the door as Dark Pit made way, giving it a slight knock.

"Palutena, you in there?"

No reply again.

"Shulk. There's no need to hold back."

"... Won't it hurt her feelings?"

"To be honest, I personally feel that it's about time she took a bit more responsibility for her arrogance."

Wow, stern. I never thought Meta Knight would be so judgemental towards a goddess.

"...Okay."

* * *

 **BANG BANG BANG**

Palutena jumped at the violent thumping on the door. She crouched behind her couch, pinching her nose in silence.

 _Gosh..._

"Palutena! You there? Are you okay?"

 _To answer or not to answer?_ The goddess was in quite a dilemma..

"Answer me!"

"Yes, yes I am. Calm down! Sheesh..."

"Open this door please," Shulk requested.

"But if I do, you guys are going to kick me out..."

"You made a promise, Palutena. You're going to have to keep it."

"But-"

"Stop cheating!"

"I'm not cheating!"

"Then stop being so immature about it! You're inconveniencing everyone who wants to go to bed! We're all exhausted!" he shouted.

She was left speechless for a moment, completely stunned by such a remark.

"I-I'm not whining! It's just-"

"I said open up."

"But why?! Why are you taking their side? Don't take Pit's side!"

"Open the door!" He slammed once again.

 _He's probably not going to do anything crazy. Right?_ Palutena dragged herself up, reaching for the door knob.

"One."

 _Then again, sounds like he's just about to flip out..._

"Two."

 _I don't think so. Shulk's a nice person. He wouldn't do anything so mean, would he?_

"Break it down."

"?!"

"YOU'RE USING THE MONADO?!" Palutena heard her angel yell.

As soon as those words come out from Pit's lips had the door been flung open, smacking flat into Dark Pit's face.

"UWAAAHHH, MY NOSE DAMN IT! MY NOSE!" he screamed, curling up into a ball on the ground writhing in pain.

"Fine, you win! Alright?"

"Thank you, Palutena," Meta Knight said as he took a peek past her. "So this is your suite?"

"Yes, yes it is..."

"Excuse me, could you please? As a judge, I would like to personally... Verify this room."

The heck?

"Are you implying that I'm lying?"

"No, not at all. I just want to examine it's 'authenticity', if that's what you call it."

Despite not being the slightest bit convinced, she let everyone in anyway, holding the door open. She remained silent as Shulk trudged past; the two exchanged quick glances, before she finally closed the door after him.

With Pit and Kirby having made their way into the rooms, Meta Knight seemed to be really enjoying himself. He was busy adjusting his... posterior on the sofa in the living room, creating rather unusual... noises of pleasure. Palutena frowned, unsure of how to feel towards such a scene.

 _What an interesting fetish. Definitely not something one sees everyday._

"Sooo... What happens now?"

"Mmmm, that's good... Oh, Pit will be grabbing your bags."

"My bags? They're not even packed ye-... eh?"

The angel and puffball had come skipping out, the first carrying the baggages from earlier in hand while the latter simply held a torch, constantly flipping the switch on and off.

"Don't do that Kirby, you'll spoil the switch."

"Pit, how did you even..?"

The commander of her army scratched his head shyly, looking at the floor as he chuckled nervously. "Well, I may have kind of... accidentally said that I was packing _my_ own bags..."

It took a few seconds of processing, but she managed to catch onto the message immediately.

"Sorry..." Pit added quietly.

She felt slightly ticked off at the fact that he had the confidence to plan for things this far ahead when the results had yet to be determined. But Palutena had to give it to him though, he had finally gotten a well-deserved win over her.

"I'll take it from here," she told Pit, taking the bags over and leting out a sigh in defeat. Palutena was still in disbelief at the turn of events, but nodded in acknowledgement.

"Well done Pit, well done," she said, a pinch of pride in her angel.

"Thanks Lady Palutena! But... Wait, where are you going to spend the night?"

"I was thinking, perhaps the lounge? The couch is pretty comfy..."

"You do know that they turn off the heaters at night to conserve electricity, right?"

Palutena turned around in response, looking over at the Homs who was leaning against the wall as he rubbed an eye, surprised he was back to speaking calmly again. The slight tension between them from earlier seemed to have already dissipated, much to her relief.

She forced out a soft giggle, in an attempt to lighten the mood. "Oops, silly me. I guess I never really thought about that. Ah well, guess I could crash in with the girls..."

"So who are you gonna have a slumber party with?" Pit questioned.

"Mmmaaaybbee... Lucina? No, she's already sharing with Robin. Wii Fit? No wait, both of them... Peach's with Mario, Zelda with Link~"

"Big sis Samus?"

"She's... Too serious. Two seconds in and I'd probably be booted out."

"Pink villager?"

"What? Pit, no, just like, what are you even thinking saying that?"

"But why? They're cute!"

"Try sleeping next to them then! Do you have any idea how nerve wrecking it is to have those ginormous eyes pointed at you like a hawk as you sleep?"

"Oh. Touche, I guess."

 _And definitely no lumas. They would swarm me in an instant._

"Ugh, I probably don't really have a choice," she grunted in dismay.

"I don't have a roommate. I have a spare bed if you need one," Shulk chimed in.

The goddess stared at him, eyes wide in astonishment. She couldn't have heard him clearly. "I-I'm sorry, what was that?"

"You can stay in my room if you want to, just bring your stuff over and... Yeah, that's all I guess."

She opened her mouth to reply, only to fall short, closing it. She scratched the side of her cheek with her finger as she pondered about it; staying over at his place after what had just happened would most definitely be a little... awkward. Not the best of _FEEL_ ings.

"Eheh... Heh..." she laughed nervously, "I think I'll be fine, thanks."

"Seriously? Because, if not, you're going to be freezing in there."

"No, no! It's fine, I mean, I'm..." answered Palutena, despite knowing she might come to regret this decision. "I'm cool."

Silence would commence for the next few moments, as everyone simply looked around the suite, staring at each other unsure of what to do next. "Well then, I guess it's time I take my leave."

"Already?" Dark Pit asked as he sat in a chair before the 42-inch plasma TV. "It's not that late yet though."

"I know, it's just that I need more of my beauty sleep..."

 _And it's not that I enjoy being reminded by my failures_ , she thought grimly.

"Good night , you all~"

"Have a good rest, Lady Palutena!"

As the others waved goodbye, Palutena walked before the exit, turning around to have one last look at her suite. It would be a while before she came back here. Or rather, 7 days.

"MK?"

"Is anything of concern?"

"It's just that... if you're gonna be here for a while... maybe you could stop rubbing your... self? On the couches? It's a bit, well, you know..." she grimaced.

"Oh, my sincere apologies!" he immediately jumped off the seat in slight embarrassment. "You should have alerted me earlier, I must have gotten too into it. Forgive me, m'lady."

"It's okay," she walked out, before shutting the door behind her quietly.

 _Time to get a move on then. Surely the lounge wouldn't be THAT bad._

* * *

Having sent her off with his eyes, he looked on for a moment at the closed door, deep in thought.

"Do you wanna go after her?"

Shulk spun his head around to face the winged doppelganger. He threw the remote onto the couch as he kicked back to enjoy his movie. The others were back in the kitchen, preparing mugs of coffee.

"What makes you ask that?"

"I've noticed you keeping an eye out for her recently. That's all."

"Well, we can't just leave her, can we? Well I guess we can, but it doesn't feel right... To me, at least. No, it's not right. We're all friends here, and I'm just looking out for another fellow participant in this enterprise."

Having heard such a thorough answer, Dark Pit simply shrugged. "She kinda brought things on herself, but I won't question your opinion. What are you waiting for then?"

The Homs slid his hands into his pockets, slightly nervous. "I don't know... I just think that I should wait. I think she must have rejected my offer because of what I did earlier, so I guess we should uh, give her a bit of space? To relax?"

"Huh, and I thought you were clueless with the ladies."

"Well, I don't really know... A friend just thought me what to do in such a situation. He told me to give it a little time. You know who Dunban is? Not a clue? Oh, umm that's fine I guess."

The only reply was a few simple nods that expressed understanding. Dark Pit merely turned back to the big screen.

"Trying to bed her already. Smooth one."

"Excuse me?" Shulk raised an accused tone.

"No, no, don't get the wrong idea, I'm not judging anyone," he raised his hands before Shulk, "Just tell her to not share a bed with you, and that's the only request I have on my part of the deal. I don't want to have to bleach my eyes at the sight of you two getting kinky."

"I don't intend to do such things! And I'm pretty sure you know full well she isn't like that!"

"Hey, you never know. Regardless, there's no need to get so upset over this. Don't have to be so serious, dude."

"Who said I was getting serious?" Shulk retorted.

"Well, if not... then what are you being? Attracted? Annoyed? Awkward?"

The Homs stopped for a moment, unsure of what to say to this. True, how was he feeling..?

"I'm just... being... Shulk."

Dark Pit scowled in disgust at his reply. "Goodness... You and Pit... your brains just... boggle my mind... bruh," he fell over his seat.

* * *

"Ugghhh, darn it... This is the worst," Palutena groaned, ramming her face straight onto the coffee table, all hunched over her seat, arms hugging her head. She spaced out, steam rising from her coffee mug before her blank emerald eyes.

 _Maybe I should have listened to him... I never imagined that it'd be so chilly._..

She wriggled her nose into the sleeves of the white woolen sweater she had taken out from her bag, trying to keep her nose warm. It was already 11pm, but yet she didn't want to bring herself to rest. Or rather, she couldn't. It was near impossible to sleep with the air-conditioning units blasting at maximum power straight into practically every square inch of the room. Had the back gates not been locked, she would have rather slept on a bench in the backyard.

Her eyelids continued to droop, begging for relief; closing her eyes was one thing, but trying to sleep and not become a frozen popsicle was another. Palutena had woken up at 4am earlier that day just to get the morning match bonuses. The programmes were near 24/7 and went off for only about three to four hours a day, and those who participated in early morning or late night events usually received more pay.

It was a coffee marathon right now. The other options would certainly be Red Bull or Monster, but getting hyper active when her batteries were nearly dead would certainly just burn the remainder of her fuel.

 _Anything for a warm bath..._

"Palutena? You feeling okay? You don't look too good," someone called out.

The goddess barely lifted her head as she murmured a few lines of gibberish to herself, gripping the handle of her mug and bringing it before her lips.

"Are you fine-"

"GAH!" She cried, causing her coffee mug to topple and spill its contents all over the table from her trembles. A back hand slap was delivered straight to the person behind her, which could be heard from a loud smacking sound that resounded throughout the room.

"Shu... Shulk?"

"It's fine, it's fine..." he rubbed his cheek.

"But why are you- wait, no. More importantly, WHAT THE HECK were you trying to do trailing your hands down my back?!" rebuked Palutena, her face completely flushed red. "I can file this for sexual harassment, you got that?"

"EH-EHHH?! Well, I-I'm really sorry! I had no idea that that would cause you such discomfort, I was simply trying to check on you, like, uh, whether you were feeling alright or not! That's all there is to it, I swear!" He sputtered out quickly, stepping away.

As a matter of fact, he was not lying. Shulk was told that by using once's hands to make physical contact with another's skin could at the very least help make an estimate on their body temperature, regardless of its accuracy. He had done so on the arms or foreheads of a couple or so of his fellow friends and companions before when they were down with a cold, but in this scenario, Palutena had curled up so much in her sweater, there was barely anyhwere he could have a proper touch of except down her back.

He felt so wronged about the current situation; Oh, how he hoped that the goddess would stop fixing her suspicious gaze on him...

" _Okay,_ I'll let it slide just this once," she finally huffed. "Let's just clean up this mess..."

"So, what did you come down here for?" Palutena spoke up, having wringed the wet towel dry for a last time at the basin. "What's so important?"

A look of unease crossed his face, whilst gingerly placing the towels into the dryer and shutting it. "That must've been rude of me..."

"Hmm? What's that mean?"

"About earlier... the shouting and all. I'm sorry for all that. I know I may have hurt your feelings, or maybe made you feel slightly uncomfortable when we were in there earlier, but I just want you to understand that I had no intention of doing so. There was just no other way to get you out there, and I..."

The smirk produced by Palutena had interrupted Shulk's train of thoughts for the moment. "Um... Did I say something wrong?"

"No, no, I get it, I know you didn't mean it. Frankly, I should be the one apologising. I could tell you were feeling grumpy from all that I've put you through. So let's just dismiss this issue and forget it ever happened, deal?" she flashed him a smile that instantaneously made him bashful.

 _This woman... can really appear so sweet at times..._ The Hom sighed.

"On one condition though."

Her interest was piqued. "Oh? What could that be then?"

"You're going to not freeze into a popsicle out here and move somewhere warmer."

"..."

"...Well..?"

"Don't you think," the goddess lashed her index finger right before his face, "that for one moment..." she loured at him, "That I **DON'T** know what you're up to. I know you're going to introduce me to some of your introverted fantasies! I can read you like a book, so well that even Shakespeare would bow before me! Crystal clear, blondie!"

"Wha- WHAT? What's going on in your head again?!"

"Don't play dumb with me! You're definitely going to pretend to be all nice and welcoming, and when I'm finally settled, you're gonna lock the doors, pounce on me, and... and..." Palutena hesitated.

"NO! I have no such ideas! Not even once! Maybe Wario, but-" it was finally Shulk's turn to get slapped in the face.

"You're going to make me read all those PitXViridi, or PitXPittoo fanfictions just to make me cringe! HARD, I TELL YOU! A conspiracy! **A SET UP**!"

At this point, it was evident that the lack of sleep had finally begun to get into her, creating great hostility towards the Hom in the flick of a switch. Kind of like how a glass marble would react to the slightest disturbance. This left him with little choice, but to simply drag the struggling goddess and all her belongings back to his room. A mix of emotions ran through him as he took the steps back to bed, but what they actually were, he had decided that he could wait to figure them out the next morning.

* * *

 **P.s.s Leave a review if you have any suggestions or criticism! I'm open to all opinions :)**


	5. Chapter 5: Encounter

**Hey peeps!**

 **Finally updated with chapter 5. I know it's been quite some time, and I'm real sorry about it. Even with 18 days, I was barely able to type anything out, because my finals are here. I don't think I can update this story anytime soon till November's first week, earliest.**

 **Again, apologies that this chapter is short. I hope you guys can enjoy it, and thanks to all for reading and following, regardless whether reviews have been left or not. Thank you all~!**

* * *

"Hey..."

The murmuring of voices could be heard, but there was no intention of getting up. A slight shrug of the head, once again slipping back into slumber...

"Hello..."

Barely half-conscious, she rolls to her side in disdain, a way of showing her vexation. For a few moments did she expect the disturbance to carry on, but it soon appeared that it had actually abided by her wishes. Exhaling lightly, with the mind and body relaxed, she gets ready to fall back asleep for the second time.

Then it proceeds to prod her, just once. Right in the hip, causing the goddess to flinch. "Cut it out..." she mutters wearily. She reaches out across the bed to grab a pillow, eye shut tight, and throws it behind her before slamming back face first into her own.

Everything was quiet again. Nothing else, just peace, silence and the air-conditioning...

"Fall asleep..." Palutena's own voice is muffled. For another ten seconds nothing happens, but soon she's up and smashing her balled fists on the bed, throwing a tantrum like a pampered girl.

"Why'd you have to interrupt me?! I was catching up with sleep so well, and of all things you had to do, you had to-"

Her eyelids flutter open, only to realise that she is no longer in Shulk's room. Honestly, there isn't any such thing like a room, a building, or even some sort of shelter. Surveying the area through squinted eyes, it appeares that there's only plants and vegetation all around; the grass are all neat and short, the colourful flowers radiant as ever, just one large, spacious garden of nature. The only thing that remains out of place is the bed that Palutena is sitting on, and the pillow she had thrown off of it.

The goddess feels apprehensive, biting her lip. Not at being in the middle of nowhere. Instead, at the fact that the sun in the sky is practically bathing her, but she's still feeling the supposedly non-existent air-conditioning unit blasting chilly air at her.

While common sense would immediately make one consider the possibility that this was, a dream, the first thing that comes to her mind is of a close acquaintance.

"Viridi, what did you do again! Is this one of your reset bombs?" Palutena yells out in frustration.

Her voice reaches out over the distance, but it is clearly apparent that there are no other living beings here. She hops off the bed and scratches her head in confusion, unsure of what to think of this.

 _It's just grass and flowers. Nothing more than that... Where is this..? Am I in a dream?_

"Heh, I guess you could call it that."

She spins around and instantly realises that there is now a tree a few metres away from where she's standing, and a figure is sitting just beneath it, under the shades.

 _Is that a... Baloney tree? Wait no... a Mwaloni tree?_ For some reason or the other, she tries to identify the random tree that has sprouted out of nowhere, despite it's huge insignificance in this story's future chapters. _Guh, these names are all so weird. Maybe I should ask Viridi another time._

Palutena only realises that she's not wearing her sandals as she starts taking her steps on the grass, heading over to the figure. As she approaches, however, the figure soon begins to look more and more familiar. The posture, the blonde hair, the red and black top, the blue cuffs, the bottoms...

"Shulk..?"

He lets out a hearty laugh, and gives a charming smile to her, one that causes the goddess to feel her cheeks heat up. She shakes off any such feelings though, and hurriedly cuts to the chase.

"Shulk, what's going on?" She asks, looking about as she does so in wonder.

"Well, if you could make a guess, what would you guess this place to be?"

"Not a clue. I hope all this is just a dream..."

Once again he chuckles, "Well, I guess we could call it that."

Palutena stares blankly at him. _He's not answering the question though._

"Relax, there's no need to be so serious. Just have a seat beside me," Shulk suggests, patting a spot next to him. The goddess gets nervous once more; _something isn't feeling right_. Perhaps it's the attitude of his that is throwing her off, but regardless she still complies and takes her place.

A moment of silence is shared between them as they look away, but it only provides a greater feeling of unease. She can finally stand it no longer; however, just as she her lips part to speak up, she is only to be interrupted by the Hom:

"Do you like tuna?"

With the snap of the fingers, she is looking as if she is choking on a lemon. Palutena remains baffled at his statement, unsure of what to think of it.

"P-Pardon?"

"Do you like tuna? The fish, you know?"

Falling back onto the trunk of the tree she facepalms as hard as she can. Her companion looks on, mildly humoured, as she starts groaning into her palms.

She decides at this moment she is not going to bother making sense of anything anymore. Never, ever again.

"Why..?" She mutters.

"There's some leftovers from dinner, I'm thinking of trying it out tomorrow morning. I've never had it before, so what's it like? Maybe we could eat it together too?"

Palutena turns her head just enough to get a glimpse of him. She is at awe at how oblivious, or how unconcerned he is to things as of now.

"Well, that's definitely **_one_** way to get back to the mansion if I answer this..." she asks in a sarcastic tone.

"But it only works if you're honest!" This is a reply that immediately throws her into confusion. How does this relate to the situation at hand?

"What- Why would I lie about tuna?!"

"Yeah! Let's do this then!" He cheers.

"Well... I think tuna is a really interesting dish," she begins, still unsure of why she's even playing along. "It's pretty oily and a little salty. Cook it and it still tastes a little like raw fish..." She looks up and notices Shulk's enthusiasm about the topic at hand, as he nods his head attentively, causing her to drop a sweat.

"Anyways, you can eat it in many different forms. You can eat it raw, like when you eat sushi, you can eat it on a biscuit... I personally prefer eating it from the can, but only when there's mayo in it..."

As she goes deeper and deeper in thought, her mind soon wonders away, leaving her to zone out like an idiot as she begans to imagine the wonderful taste of tuna in her mouth, as she licks it off the plastic spoon that comes with the can-

Liquid soon splats on her arm, and when she finally comes to, she realises that she has been drooling on her dress for quite some time.

"Uwagh! I'm such a fool, excuse me for my sloppiness!" The goddess cries out, as she hastily wipes at the wet stains. The Homs is balling up in laughter, on the other end, adding to the distress she is receiveing.

"Ah, Palutena," he wipes a tear from his eye. She is taken aback when she suddenly feels his presence draw so close, as he leans directly before her, mere centimetres from each other's faces.

The goddess gulps, her heart beginning to pump quickly. Out of... fear..?

"What are you doing..."

"You wanna go back, right?"

"You mean... the mansion? As in the Smash mansion? As in the one not too far from Smashville?"

"Mmhmm~" he hums in reply. She takes a moment to stretch her head away, uncomfortable with their close proximity, before nodding lightly, not knowing what to expect.

"Well then, wakey-wakey, M'Ladeeey~~~!" exclaims the young Hom, and he brings up an arm to swat it across her face.

* * *

Palutena's eyes flickered for a bit, waking with a start. Having quickly scanned the surroundings for another time, she took in a deep breath and hugged the pillow in her arms. She began recounting the events that had transpired in her sleep, trying to get her boggled mind back in order.

 _What is this? Inception?_

It was the turning of the door knob that would be the first sound she would hear of the day.

"Morning," Shulk checked in with her, as he stepped out from the bathroom, fully dressed. The two exchanged morning greetings before proceeding to have conversation, while Palutena heeded his advice to wait for the hot air to clear up before going in for a shower.

"Had a good night's rest? You just collapsed on the bed. I tried to wake you up so that you could at least get a rinse but you weren't budging."

"Yeah... I was dog-tired. I lost so much sleep, I hope I won't get affected too much by it anymore though."

"Hah, I guess so. You were a little high last night before going to bed. Less sleep causes mental deterioration, remember that."

"Frankly, I'd be more worried about growing white hair than that. I'm smart enough to know how to act, even when I'm not thinking straight," she proclaimed.

 _You weren't even drunk, and you were already going all ballistic on me..._

"Anyways, did you have any dreams? I usually have dreams more often when I'm more worn out," he told her, pushing the conversation on.

Her head perked up at the mention of the word " _ **dream**_ ".

"As a matter of fact, yes. It was pretty peculiar, though."

"Hey, lucky guess! Did it have me in it?" Shulk joked. He was glad to be able to improve relations with yet another smasher. Howbeit, contrary to his expectations, he soon realised that the goddess was having her jaws dropped, frozen in place. She appeared completely astonished to his comment, as her pillow fell out of her grasps and just thumped on the bed softly.

"Umm... You okay-"

Much to his dismay, she had already charged straight into the bathroom and slammed the door shut before he could complete his sentence, making him feel extremely awkward. He scratched the back of his head.

 _What did I do wro-_

Even his train of thoughts was interrupted, with her calling out for him through the door.

"Shulk!"

"What is it?"

"Pass me the towels!"

* * *

 **After typing this chapter, I felt really odd when I reread it a couple of times to check for any errors. Maybe it's because I typed in present tense when I was at the dream part and past tense when I went back to narrating the normal story. That might be it, cause typing interchangeably really made me messed up in grammar. I had to edit this chapter quite a bit too. Maybe I need an editor..?**

 **P.s I just noticed that for some reason, my story involves a LOT of slapping. I have no idea why I keep adding that... Oops?**


	6. Chapter 6: That ain't Fox!

**I'm really sorry for not updating for nearly a month! I just finished my exams, but I had a tournament to attend to as well. But now that both are out of the way, I can finally post what I've been typing up till now. Woohoo!**

 **Thanks to all you readers and followers out there, you peeps are the bestest! All reviews, criticisms and support is welcome and appreciated. I cannot express my gratitude for everyone that has continued sticking with me.**

 **Well, enough from me, enjoy Chapter 6! ^^**

* * *

"It's feels lonely in here."

"It's only 9 in the morning. The crowd usually runs in at about half an hour later."

"But then I'll have fewer people to chat with, colon open bracket."

"At least we can share more conversations between the two of us , right?" Shulk flashed a gentle smile, as he awaited his toast. He reached foward to pick them up as soon they fell of the converyer belt, only to instantly cringe and toss the slice onto his plate, followed by the sucking of fingers.

"Not gonna use the tongs?" Palutena pointed.

"Nope, they're all yours for the taking!"

"Uh, thanks... It was more of an advice than a question..."

Shulk clearly hadn't heard the rest, as he had already made a grab for his unsalted butter and wandered to the eggs station. She simply raised an eyebrow as she stared at him from the back, before returning her gaze to the bacon strips. The dream from last night remained ever so vivid; it was too real... or rather, too surreal? And funnily enough, just when she had to share rooms with the very person she-

The goddess shuddered slightly at the thought. The very person she was sent to bed by. Coincidence? Frankly, she highly doubted it was coincidence. As she picked out what would be on her breakfast platter, Palutena wondered if it was a lucid dream. Yes, that had to be it. It was the only logical reasoning she could think of and furthermore, it would only be natural to think of the most recent person one had met in a lucid dream. It was a theory she had decided to settle upon.

Having filled her cup of tea, she proceeded to the closest table, still in her train of thoughts. Something was still bothering her, something she couldn't quite put a finger on. As much as she hated to admit it, Palutena had considered the possibility of infatuation, love or whatever they called it multiple times, but she knew clearly that it wasn't the reason. The dream was just far too perculiar. In addition, she rarely had dreams, but that factor did not exactly help in forming any conclusions.

 _Guh, let's just save that for after breakfast. Don't want to get distracted in the middle of conversation..._

"So," with a bacon strip from earlier between clenched between Shulk's teeth, "Got any plans today?" He asked, taking his seat.

"Well, not as of now, but..." Palutena whipped out a smart phone, "Let's check the tables then." Fingers swiping across the screen, the goddess was glad that there was a change in subject. She tapped the official "Super Smash App", and quickly popped a cherry tomato in her mouth with the free hand.

"I wonder how many matches we'll have today?"

"Hold on a second, it's almost there." She raised her mobile up high momentarily (as Rafiki would with Simba), before withdrawing it back to eye level.

"They still haven't fixed the WiFi signal here... *Ahem* Sheik, Zero Suit Samus still tied for 39 points up top, you're hanging on at 18th, with 22 points and I am 24th, with 21 points." Palutena read aloud.

"You're 24th? But that's only a point behind me," said Shulk, in between his bites.

"Competition is tight. There's practically 5 others that have also scored 21 points, so the order of positioning is counted using some system, with the damage dealt and received," she came in reply.

"At this rate, we'll never reach top 10..."

"Shulk, why are you always so pessimistic? You're never gonna succeed unless you believe. BELIEVE. You're only going to spread your negativity to the people around you at this rate. It's almost as if it's your signature skill," Palutena rattled at him.

"I'm just trying more realistic. Aim too high, and it hurts more when you crumble," he explained.

"You're at it again..."

"In my own defence, being pessimistic has its benefits!"

"Like..?"

"Visions come 4 seconds earlier."

Palutena couldn't tell whether he was actually serious or not, but she didn't want to probe any further to save herselves the trouble of listening to all the details and taking a whole hour for breakfast. She looked back at the day's schedule on screen, as they continued their meal.

"Anyway... yeah, we got a match a little after this. Smash Run."

"Ooh, that's a nice change of pace. Who else is in it?"

"Wario and Ness."

"Oh, I guess that's okay..." Shulk mumbled. He wasn't exactly fond of competing in Smash Run with big, mean participants and at least the only nuisance this time may perhaps be Wario. They always played dirty. Like the time Ganondorf pulled him back by the collar and tossed him WAY behind the starting line. Big Daddy got instantly disqualified, but that still didn't stop Shulk from only getting third.

"So, uh, mind if I dig in? I don't want my food to get cold," asked the goddess.

"Yeah, sure, sorry to bother you. Here, try this out, this combination I made is pretty good."

"Thanks... Combination of what?" And just as she finished her line, a tuna spread waffle was plopped onto her plate.

* * *

"Shall we head there early?"

"Yup! Just give me a moment," Palutena yelled across the room (gaining the attention of several) as she helped a fellow Waddle Dee carry the dishes back to the washer.

Putting the plates and bowls down, she knelt down, patting it on the head lightly. "Thanks for all the hard work!" she said and quickly swept back to the entrance gleefully, leaving the blushing little fellow staring on behind her.

"You know, sometimes i really do envy your social skills," Shulk commented as he pushed the door open, returning to the junctions of the mansion's hallways.

"It's not that hard, honestly. Just say something that cheers other people up!" She chimed.

"Easier said than done, though."

He continued to walk on, his footsteps keeping the beat of the cheery tune she was humming.

"If it's okay with you, I was actually hoping I could stop by my room on the way..." Shulk heard, turning to face the goddess, who had a worried look on her face.

"Of course, we still have time. But I don't think they'd trash the place, so, erm, you don't have to be so concerned. Unless you're just wanting to check how they're doing there then I understand. I'm not saying you shouldn't be concerned! But it's just that you shouldn't be too, uhm, argh..."

Palutena giggled lightly as the Homs struggled to express his words clearly, but to no avail. "It's okay, I think I get the idea," she replied. "I'm just curious, that's all."

"Oh, uh, good then, thanks. I didn't say anything that might have sounded blunt or offensive, did I?" Shulk checked.

"Not that I can comprehend of, why? Was I supposed to get upset at you?"

"No, no! I'm also just curious as well!"

"Well, if you didn't mean to do something like that, then it's fine with me," she told him, trotting onwards.

After having spent a good five minutes wandering about hallways and hopping up the stairs (or at least, Palutena did), the door that caused much trouble for a select few the night prior was once again in sight.

"Remember to press the bell, it's no longer just- never mind..." Shulk could only watch on, as the goddess barged straight into the suite, without even the slightest hint of entry. He followed on, shaking his head in disapproval.

"Hey! Geez, you can't just waltz in here without letting us know!" shouted someone. He stepped foot into the room for the second time, only to notice that Dark Pit was glaring at the two of them, clearly upset with the sudden intrusion, as he chewed on a plain doughnut whilst playing cards. To his surprise, his fellow companions were Robin, a woman with red hair beside a sword tied to a teddy bear and a cyborg with nothing but a red core on its face, each holding their own hand of cards. Robin and the red haired lady shot their heads up to look at the commotion, whereas the cyborg ignored them and drew another card and tossed it onto the glass table. "Double eights," he announced, in a deep robotic voice.

"By gosh, what is thus?!" gasped the goddess in front of Shulk.

"Just chillax. It's not like we burnt the place down or anything, alright? We're just playing some cards, and-"

"WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE PG, PITOO, NO GAMBLING DENS ARE ALLOWED! What's that like, two hundred grand?!" Palutena hollered, pointing to the mountain of coins on the glass table. The redhead looked at it for a moment, forming an impish smirk that preceded her talking.

"Hands off the gold, it's allllll mine!"

"And why's there an android sitting on my couch?!"

"The technical term is actually cybo-" it tried to explain, but was cut short.

"And you know what really gets under my skin?"

"What is it, ma'am..." Dark Pit grumbled, slouching on his seat.

Robin was sitting there the whole time, listening to Palutena's ramblings and complaints. He turned to look at Shulk, who only shrugged and returned with a sympathetic look.

"Look at it, just look! I mean, who drinks plain water with a tea cup?" she questioned rhetorically, in reference to the one before the tactician.

"I just had a refill of water after my cup of coffee, that's all! I swear!"

"Hmph, fine. But still, I don't feel that I can trust Pitoo with this..."

"Where's Pit?" Shulk looked around the room, with the angel not in sight.

"He went to play tennis outside."

"With who?"

"Lucina, I think. And someone else."

"She plays tennis?" Palutena wondered aloud.

"Well, she's just in for the experience. She seems really enthusiastic about trying out all the things we can do here," Robin told her.

"But, end of conversation!" Dark Pit interjected in annoyance. "You've dragged us on long enough. Now shoo, please. You're disgustingly paranoid for a goddess."

Palutena looked just about to throw back a retort, but proceeded taking a deep breath to calm herself down, to Shulk's relief. He really didn't want to have to settle another dispute.

"I'll just take it as a compliment..? I'm really sorry for taking much of your time, I hope it wasn't too much of a bother." She said, taking it surprisingly well.

 _Everything went better than expected_ , Shulk thought for a moment. But just a moment, as at the next instance, Palutena had immediately gone bursting back out the way they came, presumably to escape embarrassment.

"Ah, poopnoodles," Shulk muttered under his breath, swiftly exiting and making sure to shut the door as silently as possible. He whipped himself around and sighed, unable to spot her, before dragging himself on wearily as he begin the search once more.

* * *

"Is she always like this?"

"Not usually, I just think that losing to me might have really grinded her gears."

"I see. I'm jealous of her."

"For what?"

"I mean, did you look at the size of that thing around her neck? Like, I bet all her jewelry could cost a bomb!"

"If it's a nuclear bomb, is he going to be there?"

"Uh, who's he supposed to be?"

"Can we just continue? Anna, it's your round!"

"It is? Oops, sorry. What was it again?"

"He placed double eights! Now hurry the frilish up!"

"Fine, fine... what's the hurry, really..."

The one named Anna snickered lightly, bringing a finger to her chin as she did so.

"What?!"

"Pitoo... Is that your real name?"

"CUT IT OUT ALREADY!"

* * *

 **I enjoy adding characters that are assist trophies into the story as well. It increases the variety of participants in this story, so that I don't always have to pick from the common few in the roster! :D**


	7. Chapter 7: Ineundos

**Hey peeps, it's been a while. And I know it's been quite a while since I last updated...**

 **"Ermahgud Wotahbotah3k you fuggin idiot, be more consistent with your chapters dammit you lil' bij!"**

 **I'm REALLY sorry bout that. I was actually gonna update a while ago, but I'm actually going for a trip, like, tomorrow. And I actually had this chapter done quite a while ago, and it was actually about 3 times the length of this, because I was worried that if I'm gonna be away for a bit I might as well give you all something juicier to read. But then what happened? Thanks to the help of some, I realised how much I screwed things over, and that is why I had to delete a couple of hours worth of slow typing... Hahaha... Yeah...**

 **So... I'll leave you peeps to the chapter first. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"Excuse me, Miss Palutena, are you feeling alright?"

The goddess promptly looked up from cleaning the underside of her nails as she sat on the waiting couch.

"Yes, I'm fine. I guess I'm just nervous about it, that's all."

"It's okay, Miss Palutena! I've seen your records for Smash Run and they've been amazing! Even if you don't make top five in the overall contests, I'm sure you can clinch first under the Smash Run sub category!"

"That's really nice of you to say. Thanks for checking on me though, Ness. It was really nice of you to."

"Don't mention it! I'll be around if you ever need any help!" the boy said merrily.

Hopping on to the spot beside her, he started swinging his legs to and fro whilst the goddess watched on. She was fond of talking to the kids; Quite frankly, thirteen wasn't exactly that young an age, but she still enjoyed speaking to the younger smashers nonetheless. She guessed it was their naive smiles that made them approachable.

"Hey, Ness? Can I ask you something?"

"Yes, of course! Just fire away, there's no need to hesitate."

"Okay then. So, do you think I've been overreacting since last evening?"

As opposed to the expected reaction of an immediate answer, the boy merely gave a blank stare at her.

"I'm sorry, but overreacting over what exactly?" Ness asked, confused at her question. "I don't think I've seen you aroumd much yesterday, other than during dinner."

After hastily apologising, Palutena did her best to summarise all the events that had occured in the past, what, fourteen hours? Ness listened attentively and nodded every now and then, showing that he understood what she was going on about.

"So," she paused, "what do you think?"

The boy scratched his elbow for a bit, thinking about how he felt towards it. "For starters, I don't really think that you've been overreacting. However, I feel that... um, honest opinion?"

"Yes, honest opinion."

"Okay, I feel that you were being a little immature about it. Are you feeling kind of sore about it?"

"A tea spoon worth of sodium chloride, I'd say."

"I find you usually calm and collected, with the exception of being around Pit. It's okay though, I mean, everyone feels that at least a pinch of saltiness when they lose in something with stakes, right? It isn't your fault, but probably more of you being not used to losing, or at least being wrong about something."

Ness' statement struck Palutena with realisation; _Was I just being upset this whole time because I couldn't accept losing to them over such a simple game..?_

It didn't matter anymore. Now that she knew what her problem was (which was actually pretty obvious to begin with), she could actually try her best to be more sporty about it.

"Thank you SO much Ness!" She hugged him tightly. The boy opened his mouth yo gasp for air as he was trapped between her tight arms, only to make an odd sputtering sound.

"*Cough*, welcome as *wheeze* always," he managed to choke out, before she let go.

"I think I should think of a way to compensate them... Sweetie, would you like to come over for supper?" the goddess invited. "I'm going to get into the kitchen tonight."

Having cleared his throat, Ness leaped up onto his feet in excitement. "Oh boy! I'll be there, just don't make it too late please!"

As the two shared a moment of laughter, the voice of a disgruntled man came from beside the couch.

"Wanna know what how i see it?"

The two turned, only to be met with the sight of a hairy, short and stout garlic chewing man. With each bite from the knob in hand, the stench would only worsen, as if that of his stupid leather coat, jeans and yellow hat wasn't already bad enough.

 _Ugh, it's this fellow deviant; why'd he have to ruin the mood?_

"A good day to you, Wario. You wanted to input your own perspective?"

"Yes, yes, of course! I overheard ALLLLLL of it, pretty sharp ears huh?"

"Haha... yeah..." Palutena forced out a chuckle, if it could even qualify as one. No matter who it was, like em' or hate em', Palutena always tried her best to be polite with anyone. There was really no point in telling someone to get lost if they were just going to continue leaching, so she might as well just let him have his way. "Well, by all means."

"I'm thinking that you're being smoking hot, as usual, for being in an air-conditoned building, AHAH!" Wario wooed her. Ness and Palutena cringed as he raised an eyebrow, a flirting grin on his face.

"You-"

 _Just take the compliment. As if telling him that he is being disturbing would stop him._

"That's nice of you, but what does that have to do with anything, Wario?" she asked.

"That aside, seems like you've been very stingy about sharing the stuff you own, hmm? You might wanna be more generous, hmm?"

"Your point being..?"

"I'm feeling a little cold, you see, and of course _you_ need to start sharing, so if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to take up residence in some of your _warmer places,_ AHAHAHAHA! Let me **_bury myself_** inside you, AHA, NYAAAAHHH!" he chortled. The goddess beamed brightly in response to the yellow man: "Ohhh, I get it, I get it. Pretty smooth there, Wario! I'll give you that."

"What does that mean, Miss Palutena?" Ness asked innocently.

"I don't really understand either," Palutena whispered, "Just go with the flow till he leaves."

Unbeknownst to either party, was that Palutena was trying her best not to spit, or even better, throw up, right into Wario's big ugly face. Having to crash in someone else's room while her own suite was getting occupied by the two angels sucked enough already, and she really didn't want to upsize her 7 day combo with an extra large serving of Wario and his sexual inuendos. Palutena always found such acts to be greatly discomforting and had little tolerance of such.

 _It's inelegant and rude. In addition, Ness is just beside me. I can't do something like that, no matter who it is._ She puffed out a short breath of air _. He's just a male, it's perfectly normal for him to be attracted towards me, and there are many others who act even worse oit there. It's not his fault he's like this. Don't get mad at him._

The thought was short-lived, however, as the goddess snapped her head back to glare right at the plump man.

"What are you doing," she stated rather than question.

"Just feeling you up, ya know! A gentleman does have to give his lady a massage, after all."

As Wario continued to trace his big gloved hand along the left, exposed thigh of the goddess, her furrow increasingly deepened at every moment.

"Wario... Need I educate you on basic courtesy..?" she threatened through gritted teeth.

"Aww, c'mon, it's not like you're not enjoying-"

Just as Palutena thought she would sucker punch him in the face, someone grabbed onto Wario's right arm, tugging it away from her.

"You! What are you-"

"Excuse me ma'am, but is this man harassing you?"

"PAH! I GET IT! Now let go of me, party pooper," grumbled Wario, as he yanked himself free from Shulk's grasp, and left for the transporter to the preparations room. The Homs merely shot him a nasty look, before returning to address the other two.

"You guys okay? He didn't do anything else funny, did he?"

"Thankfully not, Shulk! Luckily you came just in time, otherwise things would have gotten out of hand," Ness told him.

 _Haha, yeah, out of hand, as in me socking him in the face. Bet he'd be whimpering like a little puppy had no one come to stop him._

"Palutena, please stop running off without notice again. It's not an easy job finding you all the time," Shulk pleaded.

"Really? Pit seems just as upbeat as he always is when it comes to him."

"Still, not an easy job. He's been doing this for years now, I'd be surprised if he couldn't- oh um, actually, I _wouldn't_ be surprised if he couldn't keep up."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Palutena, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Eh... Well, would you look at the time, we'd better get our Smash Run equipment ready soon! C'mon let's go!" Shulk avoided the question.

With that being said, he quickly headed for the same transporter that Wario had just used, with the others following closely behind. Once they all gathered on it's round base, they waited a couple more seconds before the tranporter soon sent them on their way to "The white room".

* * *

"You're really gonna bring that?"

"Huh? You mean the healing shield?"

"No, I was actually referring to the beam sword."

"Oh. Well, I've always wanted to try swinging one about. I mean, the way you slice and dice your opponents with your Monado seems really fancy, not to mention about the other powers of yours that bolster your abilities."

"I see, thanks," Shulk added as he finally filled his final slot with the Brief Invincibility power up. Palutena, on the other hand, was still contemplating over which powers she should spend her remaining weight space of 3 on. She could not afford to carry the Smart Bomb at a weight of 4, and the other powers didn't really appeal to her. She finally reduced her choices to a remaining two: Smash extend, at 3, which allowed for longer charged smash attacks, or the Devil's Pact, which would boost her stats, in exchange for receiving damage up to an extreme 300%.

Shulk looked over at her selection screen and examined her choices. In comparison, the Smash extend would not have much use in this fast paced run throughout the course, whilst the boosts of the Devil's Pact would give a very significant advantage over the others. The largest downside to it was clearly that she could be knocked out by something as weak as a feather. Surprisingly, Palutena tapped the Devil's Pact on the selection screen, which would be her sixth and final power up.

"Wow. I must say, that's pretty daring. Are you usually a risk taker?"

"Well, not are your thoughts about utilising the Devil's Pact?"

"Seeing as how it is, it would best be used in a situation where either you've already received a substantial amount of damage, or when time is ticking and you're very confident you will be able to survive down to the last second. That way, you can get a quick final burst," he explained.

"That's pretty well said," she nodded. "Then again, if I were to use the Devil's Pact at the same time as Brief Invincibility in the last minute or so of the run, I would be able to achieve a huge lead all the same, without fear of getting knocked out while attempting to get the boosts."

"Hey, that's a pretty good idea as well. I'm surprised I never thought of that myself," Shulk praised, snapping his fingers at the same time. "Regardless, you have to be careful about using it though. Try to avoid places without walls if you do."

"I know, I know. Frankly, I don't really have a specific timing I intend to use it. I'm thinking of maybe using it once I've gathered enough boosts. Besides, the pact only provides a temporary advantage. I will be careful."

"Miss Palutena! What do you think of my powers?" Ness eagerly asked, hoping to hear the goddess' opinion on his choices. She walked over and looked at his screen. She covered her mouth and let out a soft giggle, motioning the Monado boy to come over and join her, much to Ness' delight.

"Whoa! What's with all the missiles, Ness?" Shulk gasped in amazement. "Is that all there is to it?"

"But missiles will blow my enemies away! Right, Miss Palutena?"

"About that..."

" **Excuse me.** "

Master hand's dominant voice boomed over the surroundings of the white room, as the relaxing music that played was cut off. " **I see you are all enjoying a pleasant conversation- may I ask if you are all ready?** "

Shulk, Palutena, Ness and Wario all nodded in agreement.

" **Fantastic! The Smash Run shall commence in half a minute. Just play clean, and hopefully you'll enjoy yourselves. Ta-ta~!"**

With the music playing once again, the four- or rather, three of them wished each other all the best.

Although she hesitated, Palutena decided to wish Wario luck. "May the best win, Wario," she encouraged, to which he simply snorted in reply. Shulk noticed her eyebrow twitch for a moment; not like he didn't expect it.

It wasn't long before the "Press L + R" soundclip played, and soon everything around them had gone into pitch black darkness.

 _Now then... I wonder how things will play out..?_

* * *

 **(Please read below)**

 **I apologise once again for this chapter coming out late, despite the length. I really messed things up... On the bright side, we can finally get a little bit of action for the story, right?**

 **I am going through the next chapter as I post this, and will get it up ASAP for you peeps. Once again, shoutouts to you silent readers and followers. Whether or not you do enjoy this story, I thank you for reading it. But if you are following... Then I'm assuming you're interested in my work. I'm glad you like it!**

 **Since I'll be away for a bit (and christmas is coming soon :P ), may I ask for a favour? I would greatly appreciate it if a couple of you left a review on this chapter. I really want to hear the opinions of you all, like as in storywise, your opinions on the characters, what you think might work out and such. I was hoping the reviews can give me some leads into what I can do in the next few chapters until something else happens, but there haven't been much lately, so... ^^lll**

 **Oh, and criticisms also appreciated! Know that I would be grateful so long as you take a couple of minutes just to leave a review, short or long. Other than that, thanks for sticking with me and have a very, very nice rest of your day.**


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